not often; " we rarely met"

In a rare manner or degree; seldom; not often; as, things rarely seen.

Finely; excellently; with rare skill. See 3d Rare, 2.

Seldom; not often.

As a matter of fact, this rarely happens. – Recollections of a Varied Life by George Cary Eggleston

I had little use for money, and rarely carried any. – John Halifax, Gentleman by Dinah Maria Mulock Craik

Oh yes, but I see you so rarely. – The Golden Age in Transylvania by Mór Jókai

And I tell you our hearts were gigotting rarely. – The Dew of Their Youth by S. R. Crockett

The very best society was often to be seen on Boulevard Coblentz, and later on Boulevard de Gand; and may be seen sometimes, but more rarely, on Boulevard des Italiens. – San-Cravate; or, The Messengers; Little Streams by Charles Paul de Kock

It was rarely the case that he spoke to any one in the club. – Ralph the Heir by Anthony Trollope

Yes, yes It is not what I wish- but my father rarely changes his mind. – Gunman's Reckoning by Max Brand

It's very rarely made any easier for him. – The Greater Power by Harold Bindloss W. Herbert Dunton

In those cases, however, it rarely ends happily. – Pebbles on the Shore by Alpha of the Plough (Alfred George Gardiner)

" Cecil is so rarely beautiful," she says, with the most perfect admiration. – Floyd Grandon's Honor by Amanda Minnie Douglas

Mr. Killigrew had his private secretary, but this gentleman rarely saw the inside of the Killigrew home; it wasn't at all necessary that he should. – The Voice in the Fog by Harold MacGrath

Since it can take at least half a pahar for a large cannon to cool, large guns are rarely fired more than once in a battle. – The Moghul by Thomas Hoover

Sir David one might rarely happen to see, except at a crowded party. – Biographical Essays by Thomas de Quincey

She is rarely seen in the house at all, and neither talks to the men nor the women who enter. – Hodge and His Masters by Richard Jefferies

Except for an occasional expedition to Highfield, she rarely left home. – The Luckiest Girl in the School by Angela Brazil

My eyes are doing very well,- better than my fingers, in fact,- and, as I rarely play by note after I once learn a piece, the eyes make no difference. – The Deserter by Charles King

Women rarely love a man who is bitter against any one but himself. – Don Orsino by F. Marion Crawford

In any case, rarely today does an author need to use all or many of these stage divisions of an older day. – Dramatic Technique by George Pierce Baker

Hal and his wife came but rarely to Castlewood and Richmond when the chaplain and his lady were with us. – The Virginians by William Makepeace Thackeray

I was vexed as I have rarely been. – Hugh Wynne, Free Quaker by S. Weir Mitchell